“You are good,” Dray said quietly. “I am immune to charm, though,” he added in a softer voice. “I will wait for you, Zoey, and when you see him for what he truly is, I will be ready.”
Chapter 14
Glis
Sunlight filtered down through the tree tops leaving dappled patterns across the thick undergrowth. Shade paused and listened closely, praying for any sign of movement. The dead silence was unnerving him more than he cared to admit. He had never been anywhere so completely devoid of life. Not even a trill of a bird stirred through the darkening forest. As far as he could tell, he had perhaps two hours of daylight left before another pointless day ended. So far, his search had tallied four days without even so much as a hint of the Blights.
“I’m not sneaking here!” Shade called loudly and turned in a slow circle watching the forest closely. His voice echoed off the trees, but nothing moved or made a noise in response. “I just want to talk to you. That’s it! Look, I’m not even armed!” His voice echoed once more and he leaned heavily back against a tree with a grunt. “Even if you do want to fillet and devour my flesh, I’d still welcome the conversation while you are getting the dinner table ready,” he mumbled half-heartedly. The frustration of his search combined with his loneliness was beginning to take a toll on him.
The forest around him remained still and lifeless and Shade pushed himself off the tree and turned back to the path he had been following. Nigel had suggested the creatures would be near the lakes, and according to his map he still had close to ten miles before he reached them. He had considered flying directly there, but had decided against it. He had no proof of Nigel’s theory and if the creatures had moved south spotting them in the thick forest while flying would be next to impossible. The Blights almost always moved in camouflage, which meant you had to remain alert for noises or moving brush. Sometimes even that was rare. He had a pair of the glasses Sovann had fashioned to spot the creatures, but in the darkening light of the forest they weren’t very useful.
“So the loneliness of this mission was really something I should have considered before accepting it,” Shade muttered as he pressed on once more. He had always been a social person, and never spent much time alone. Even after he left the Academy, he had Charm as a constant companion, not that he was sure the rogue had appreciated that fact.
He frowned as he considered the man, and wondered how much punishment Charm had faced for helping him escape the city. He hadn’t seen or heard from him since the night Vaze sent him to Goswin, but surely Symphony hadn’t punished him too severely. She had always seemed to favor Charm, and Shade knew the man was well regarded by the other Fionaveir.
So the only issue would have been Faramir, but then that was a rather big issue in itself. Faramir was the primary reason he had left the Fionaveir in the first place. Her influence on Symphony had been unshakable, and her cold disregard for their allies had been too much for him to stomach. Shade let out a heavy sigh and regretted not checking on Charm sooner. “As soon as I am done here,” he promised himself as he gazed around at the vacant forest. If I am ever done here,” he added silently.
As it turned out, destroying the creatures was much easier than negotiating with them. The bombing of Eldagar had taken less time if you didn’t consider the weeks he had spent capturing the goblins. He froze as the thought crossed his mind and his gaze trailed slowly down to his pocket where he kept the stone. Slowly he pulled it from his coat and stared down at the black gem. He had never meant to keep the creature in stasis for so long, but then, there had never been a good time to release it before. There had always been someone nearby and he knew no one, but perhaps Jala would give the creature a chance. Honestly, he wasn’t even sure if Jala would be willing to give a goblin a chance. There was no one around now, though. His gaze rose to scan the forest once more before returning to the gem.
“I have to be desperate for company,” Shade sighed as he cracked the gem and dropped it to the ground in front of him. The goblin lay on the ground stunned for a long moment and Shade wondered if he had inadvertently damaged it with the storage stone, but then it was sputtering and struggling to its feet. He watched it in silence as it gibbered and spun around, eyes wide as it examined the surrounding forest. It stopped the moment its eyes found him and hissed.
“I did just free you,” Shade reminded it gently. He made no move for the daggers that were hidden in his coat. It was possible that the creature would settle down if he didn’t show any aggression. Of course it was also possible it would consider him weak and attempt to rip his face off. It was a gamble, but from what he remembered of the creature when he had caught it, he didn’t really think it would attack.
Sputtering once more the goblin gibbered at him loudly with what he was sure was the goblin equivalent of cursing. Shaking his head at him it waved its spindly arms at the forest surrounding them and hissed and snarled more.
“And I am going to name you Neph Junior,” Shade announced with a nod. The creature’s eyes narrowed and it hissed once more. “All right, that was insulting to you. I’m sorry,” he added with a smirk, wondering what was truly upsetting the creature. He knew it couldn’t understand him well enough to know what he was saying, and even if it did, Neph had never been around the goblins. “Food. That is probably it,” Shade decided at last and slowly reached his hand into his backpack. The creature scampered back several feet and watched him with an expression of suspicion as he pulled a strip of dried meat from his backpack. “And you probably don’t trust me, considering I fed your buddies explosives, so watch,” Shade murmured as he took a bite from the jerky and then offered it out to the creature.
The goblin snarled once more, but its anger seemed to be fading quickly as it watched him chew. It took a hesitant step forward and its nose quivered as it tried to determine what Shade was holding.
With a smile, Shade took another bite and offered it to the goblin once more. “If you don’t hurry up and take it I’m going to eat it all,” he warned in a calm voice.
The goblin had apparently reached the same conclusion after watching him take another bite, and greed outweighed its caution. Scrambling forward, it snatched the remaining jerky from Shade’s hand and scampered back, sniffing it, and then shoving it all into its mouth at once. It stayed there, crouched beside a massive elm, watching him with cheeks that were protruding like a chipmunk’s.
Shade snorted in amusement and nodded to the goblin. “See, it’s all good. I’m not going to hurt you as long as you don’t try to hurt me, and I have food so you don’t want to hurt me,” he smiled at the creature, taking care not to show his teeth. He didn’t want it to get the wrong impression and let it think he was actually snarling.
The goblin chewed for a few more moments then swallowed heavily and moved toward Shade once more. Its shining black eyes settled on his backpack then rose to look at his face. Settling back on its haunches it made a trilling sound that reminded him of a bird and held its small hand toward his bag.
Shade nodded in understanding and produced another piece of jerky from his bag. “See, we can communicate,” he said softly as he knelt down in front of the creature and offered it the jerky.
The goblin watched him for a long moment, eyeing his posture, and then cautiously leaned forward to take the offering. Unlike the first time, it didn’t snatch the food, and it didn’t scamper off to eat it. The creature eyed him as it devoured the meat with an expression of curiosity on its face.
“I get you, and I feel the same way right now,” Shade agreed with a nod and slowly stood once more. “But as interesting as you are, little guy, I have a job to do. So you have two options. You can follow me and keep me company or you can scamper off into the wilds . Your choice entirely, but if you do scamper off, please scamper a long way. I’d hate the Blights to get hold of you.” He smiled once more at the creature who seemed to be listening intently to him and then began walking north again. He wouldn’t reach the lakes tonight, but he could at least
get a mile or so closer.
A frantic trilling rose behind him and Shade paused to look back as the goblin scrambled to its feet and stumbled after him quickly. Smiling he watched it approach and offered it another piece of jerky. “I was hoping you would decide to follow,” he admitted with a nod to the goblin as he began walking once more. It fell into step behind him. “Now we have to think up a name for you, because Neph Junior is just way too mean. You have already shown that you have a better personality than Neph does.”
* * *
“It’s not done yet,” Shade chuckled as he pushed the goblin back from the campfire once more. Shaking his head with a smile he stirred the stew and tested the vegetables. “The potatoes are still too crunchy,” he informed the creature and leaned back from the fire.
For the first few days he had shunned campfires and had rested in the treetops in animal forms. Now, however, Shade was making his presence as blatant as he possibly could. He had been in Glis for six days now, and still there was no sign of the Blights. He was beginning to wonder if they had already moved on to Arovan. If they had, there was no hope at all of saving them, or Arovan for that matter.
The goblin trilled and gibbered at him as it tried to worm its way past him to reach the food. Snorting back laughter, Shade planted a hand calmly on its chest and pushed it back once more. With an expression that reminded him of a pouting child the goblin sulked off to the fringes of the camp and watched him with a mournful face.
“I think you will survive for another twenty minutes,” Shade chuckled.
“I don’t,” a woman’s voice whispered and Shade launched to his feet at the sound. The brush behind the goblin exploded with movement as several of the misshapen Blights rushed the creature.
“No!” Shade bellowed as he drew his daggers and sprinted for the goblin. One of the Blights whirled to face him as he approached and he slammed the dagger into its head hilt first to knock it out. He didn’t want to kill them, but he wasn’t about to let them kill his goblin either. “Call them off, please. We don’t want to fight. We are here to talk,” Shade yelled as he kicked another of the Blights back from the goblin.
The small creature trilled with alarm and scampered toward him. Its huge black eyes were wide with terror, and it obviously had no desire to fight.
“I hate it when dinner tries to chat,” the woman sighed with an amused tone in her voice.
“I was sent to negotiate peace with your people. Please! I don’t want to fight you,” Shade pleaded as he pulled the goblin toward him and kicked back another Blight. Claws tore through the leather of his boot, shredding the flesh beneath, but he didn’t spare time to even glance at the wound. Three more of the creatures were already closing on him and the goblin was attempting to scramble up his back to escape them. “Really, I know you are scared, but this is just not helping,” Shade snarled as he pulled the goblin from his hip and tossed it upward toward a tree limb. “Stay up there,” he commanded as he dropped to a crouch to face the closest Blight.
“I’ve never seen anything protect a goblin. You are a strange one, Dinner,” the woman observed from the shadows behind him.
“I greatly prefer to be called Shade. Dinner just doesn’t suit me,” Shade said. The Blight in front of him lunged as he spoke and he sidestepped gracefully then kicked it in the butt as it passed to ensure it wouldn’t be back to attack him for at least a few breaths. The remaining two Blights attacked together coming at him from both sides and Shade dodged one and grabbed the other by its spindly arm. Twisting he used the creatures momentum to hurl it into its comrade and danced back as they fell in a tangled heap. The one he had kicked in the butt was closing on him again and he shook his head with frustration. “Look, I don’t want to fight, and I am trying not to hurt these guys, but I am running out of options quickly,” he called toward the Shadows where the woman’s voice had originated.
“Then die and solve both of our problems. They are hungry and you are food. It’s nothing personal, it’s simply the food chain,” the woman replied calmly from the other side of the clearing.
“I’ve got some lovely stew cooking. Call them off and I’ll give everyone a bowl,” Shade offered in gasps as he dodged the creature once more and kicked it toward its companions. The wound in his leg was starting to burn and he glanced down at it quickly. Blood had soaked his pant leg and the gashes didn’t look to be healing as quickly as they should have.
The woman laughed somewhere to his right as all three Blights charged him. “You look so dismayed. Did you expect to be healing? I suppose it is a bit of a shock if you regenerate, but we learned that lesson with the Shifters. They heal too fast so we adapted. Fortunately for us we learned about Tevrae through scanning minds. Sorry, Dinner, but you won’t be healing today.” Her voice was mocking and Shade felt panic rise with her words.
“Bloody hell,” Shade muttered as he dropped to the ground to dodge the first blow and spun his leg to trip the next Blight before it could attack. If the creatures had Tevrae on their claws there was only so long he could continue to fight defensively. He had known the mission would be dangerous, but with Tevrae involved it wasn’t just dangerous it could possibly be fatal.
A squeal of alarm rang through the clearing and Shade caught movement in the trees above. The goblin trilled again as the branch it clung to swayed dangerously. Shade barely saw a glimpse of the Blight closing on the goblin before his attention was drawn back to his own problems. Scrambling back he dodged the third Blight’s attack and felt one of the other two slam into his back. Claws tore through his leather vest and deep into his flesh before he could break away. His goblin squealed again and this time its voice was laced with pain. “Stop!” he screamed as the Blight threw the goblin from the tree and landed on top of it, claws raised for the death blow.
He hadn’t truly expected anything to come from the word, but to his amazement all of the Blights in the clearing had frozen in place. Shade blinked in confusion, looking from Blight to Blight as he tried to determine what exactly had just happened. He hadn’t used any magic, but the creatures had stopped at his command. They stared at him now with wide eyes and backed away from the fight.
“What the hell?” Shade muttered as he relaxed his posture and watched the Blights in complete confusion.
“Morcaillo,” the woman hissed and slammed into his back. Claws raked at him as he spun desperately trying to dislodge her. “You think you can make us your slaves again?” the woman snarled as she tore into him once more. He caught a glimpse of her at last, and his breath caught in his throat. She was beautiful with dark hair and soft green eyes, but it wasn’t the beauty that had stolen his breath. It was the expression of pure and utter hatred that covered her face. Never before had he witnessed such rage in any creature.
“I don’t want a slave,” Shade gasped as he frantically tried to break free of her attack. “I am here to make peace with you.” He barely managed to gasp the words before her claws found his flesh once more.
“Liar!” the Blight screamed and the word seemed to echo through the entire forest.
Her face contorted again as she renewed her attack with more savagery. Shade barely managed to dodge a blow to his throat, stumbling back unbalanced. Her other hand connected solidly with his face and his vision blurred as her claws ripped through his right eye. Agony tore through him as he staggered back, clutching his face.
“Please stop,” Shade gasped. In the beginning he might have won a fight with her, but he had no hope of it now. The smaller Blights had already wounded him by the time his round with her started, and she had caught him completely off guard with her attack. Between his blinded eye and the blood loss he knew the fight was over for him, and the only prayer he had was talking some sense into her. “Jala Merrodin sent me to make peace with you. I am not here on behalf of the Morcaillo.” His words came out in a rush as she faded back to camouflage again. He only had moments before she attacked again, and he knew it would be the last attack. She would fin
ish him with her next blow if he didn’t do something quick. He couldn’t even shift forms at this point. The process of changing would take too long and she would rip him apart while he was in the middle of the shift.
“Do not kill him,” The command came from the edge of the forest and the newest speaker had a ring of authority to his voice.
“He is Morcaillo!” the woman snarled as she became visible once more. She was crouched barely a foot from him and poised to spring. By her posture Shade knew without a doubt the man had just saved his life.
“Thank you,” Shade gasped as he moved another cautious step from the woman.
The man dropped his camouflage and stepped calmly into the clearing. He was older than the woman, with dark hair and a thin beard covering his chin. He glanced at Shade as he approached and his expression was free of anger, but it was by no means friendly. His dark eyes settled on the woman and he shook his head slowly. “He is Morcaillo, which is exactly why we are taking him to Onvalla rather than killing him. He is too important to simply eat when we might learn useful information from him.”
“He is my prey. I should decide what is done with him. I have been following him for a day now,” the woman snapped as she ros e to her feet. Her back stiffened as she faced her fellow Blight.
“He was your prey and now he is mine. It’s nothing personal, Kella. It’s simply the food chain. You understand, I’m sure,” the man smirked as he repeated her own words back to her and flexed his claws as if daring her to attack him.
Shade looked between the two of them, silently noting the leather armor the man wore as opposed to the linen shirt and breeches the woman had. He was larger built, too, with a powerful frame. When you combined the physical differences and the fact that he was older and likely better trained, the odds were definitely in the man’s favor. Apparently, Kella had come to the same conclusion and Shade watched as she nodded reluctantly.
The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 4 The Blessed Curse Page 28